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Strictly star Vicky Pattison admits that her husband Ercan was delighted that she took on Strictly this year – but confesses that babies are most definitely on the agenda for them in 2026

When she opens up during an exclusive photoshoot for OK! about her Strictly journey, straight-talking Vicky Pattison tells us in no uncertain terms that if she wasn’t getting her sparkle on for the hit BBC show, alongside pro partner Kai Widdington, it could have been nappies and late nights instead.

The TV star and Heart radio host, 37, who married businessman Ercan Ramadan last August, admits, laughing, that her Saturday nights could have been looking very different right now. “At the start of this year, I said to Ercan, I’m either gonna do Strictly, a second series of Honesty Box or we’re going to have a baby. When I got the call for Strictly he was over the moon,” she smiles.

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She admits that though doing Strictly means they have less quality time together, it’s shown the Geordie favourite just how caring Ercan, 32, is – and she’s convinced he’ll make an incredible father, once the time comes. “So yes, kids are definitely on the cards next year. I think he’s looking forward to it now. He probably thinks I’ll be at home a bit more, which he’s thrilled about,” she says.

Opening up fondly on how much he’s been stepping up since she began dancing, Vicky explains, “He’s my anchor and he spoils me rotten. He wakes me up every morning with my electrolytes, my collagen, ready to go to Strictly school! She adds, “He texts about what I want for dinner and he’s being the best dog dad. There’s a real sense of role reversal, in the traditional sense, right now. It’s progressive and it takes a special man to do that.”

The bubbly star, who recently admitted on social media that Sundays at home with hubby are “sacred” to her right now, added, “Going home to Ercan and the dogs, I’m so grateful for that. I can snap out of whatever steps are flying around in my head and be with my family. I need that moment.”

She also confessed that when Ercan recently flew to see his family in Cyprus for a week – the only time he’s missed seeing her perform live – it hit her hard. “I told him to go. I said, ‘All I’m doing is coming home and whining that I’m tired, then I go to bed.’ But the minute he left, I realised how much I missed him and needed him.”

Back in March, Vicky – who has been very open about her journey towards freezing her eggs at 35, told the Mirror she definitely wanted to start trying for children in the next year or two.

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“My mam had me at 30, geriatric back in her day… So if I can get one in before 40, I’ll be over the moon!”, she confessed. “Everyone thought we’d try for kids quite quickly – so did we! But we wanted to enjoy being married, for at least a year.”

She also admitted sweetly that Ercan, whose family is Turkish-Cypriot, is one of four boys, and has confessed he would love a “football team” of sons, while she, coming from “a long line of women who have women”, imagines herself having a daughter first.

November 8, 2025

Sheehan insists he is the right man to lead Swans

By 234Radio in News, Sports News

Huw Evans Picture Agency

Gareth Vincent

BBC Sport Wales

31 minutes ago

Alan Sheehan insisted he is the right man to lead Swansea City despite seeing his side’s difficult run continue as they were thumped 4-1 at home by Ipswich Town.

Swansea trailed 1-0 at the break after an abject first-half display before Goncalo Franco levelled as Sheehan’s team rallied early in the second period.

But two second-half own goals from Ipswich old boy Cameron Burgess and a header from Ivon Azon completed a miserable afternoon for Swansea, who were booed off at half-time and full-time.

Sheehan was then booed by a section of supporters as he walked over to acknowledge those in the East Stand, while there was a chant from some calling for the Irishman’s departure.

Swansea are down to 18th in the Championship having lost five of their past eight games in all competitions, while they have only won two league matches since August.

Sheehan, who signed a three-year deal in April after an impressive spell as interim boss, added: “I think that nothing good comes easy. I think where we are within football, every manager goes through spells where they don’t win consistently.

“You need to be very strong. You need to be confident and believe in what you do, and I do believe that.

“I think we get so many plaudits from opposition managers and staff about what we do, but we need to turn some of those performances and what we do into wins.”

This is the most difficult spell of Sheehan’s brief managerial career.

Jack Clarke celebrates as Josh Tymon looks dejected

But while Sheehan’s Swansea have largely been competitive, they have not won enough games thanks in no small part to attacking deficiencies.

Their defensive standards slipped too against Ipswich, who romped to only a second away win of the season.

Sheehan appeared to accept the criticism aimed in his direction by fans, saying: “I understand it’s emotional and I understand it’s disappointing and I can understand the frustration.

Sheehan, who is in his first job as a head coach, says his lack of experience in the dugout may lead to fans doubting his ability to revive a Swansea side who are now seven points above the bottom three and adrift of the top six.

“I understand the fans’ frustration in terms of this is my first time in management so I’ve got no experience of turning things around and this is the first time as a manager when we haven’t been winning regularly,” he said.

“So there’s no actual proven methodology if you want to say that ‘he’s going to definitely turn around he’s done it before’.

Was this a good performance?

Nuno Espirito Santo with bubbles behind him

West Ham were good in places – and awful at times – in this game.

All three goals came from balls deflected into the path of the goalscorer.

Burnley went ahead through Zian Flemming’s header and were in control of the game at one point.

West Ham’s first shot on target came in the 44th minute, Callum Wilson’s header following a blocked Crysencio Summerville shot.

They would probably have been booed off at the break by their own fans had Wilson not scored.

And there was no immediate response in the second half.

In fact all they had until the 74th minute were two blocked Lucas Paqueta shots in quick succession.

But then Burnley keeper Martin Dubravka parried the ball to substitute Tomas Soucek to make it 2-1 in the 77th minute, and then to Kyle Walker-Peters for 3-1 in the 87th minute.

Josh Cullen’s consolation came too late for a comeback – and the Hammers celebrated their win.

The stats make for good reading for West Ham, too. This was the first time they have scored three goals in back-to-back Premier League games since March 2024, and their expected goals (xG) of 3.02 was their best total of 2025.

“I think it’s a small step,” said Nuno.

“It’s another day where we have achieved something at London Stadium which means a lot. But we will not get carried away.”

Speaking to Sky, he added: “It’s about trying to improve as a team.

‘West Ham wanted a basketball match’

“We’ve let one slip here if we’re being brutally honest,” said Burnley manager Scott Parker.

“We turned the game into what West Ham wanted it to be – a basketball match.

“For 30 minutes we nullified them, but we just fell away.”

The gap could have been six points with a win – but now it is down to goal difference.

Striker Wilson, who scored his second goal for the club after leaving Newcastle in the summer, said: “It was a big game, we knew the magnitude of it.

“We’ve started sticking together as a group more, and being a team. We’ve done that last week and shown that again this week.”

Nuno has won two and drawn one of his six games in charge – with Potter having lost five of his six matches before being sacked.

Wilson added: “It’s a start – we know it’s a process. We’ve not had the best of starts to the season. It wasn’t pretty today by any means, but a win is a win. This is something to go on from.”

A far cry really from even two weeks ago when they were on four points from nine games, a position nobody has stayed up from in the past decade.

But the protests will not go away

West Ham’s supporters will be delighted with the three points, but it changes nothing in terms of the protests.

They want Sullivan and Brady, who have been in control since 2010, to leave.

West Ham won the Conference League in 2022-23, which was their first silverware in 43 years, but seem to have gone backwards since.

Nuno is their third manager, after Julen Lopetegui and Potter, since David Moyes left at the end of 2023-24.

Another gripe is the 62,500-seater London Stadium, which was an athletics ground built for the Olympics, having had to leave the much-loved Upton Park.

The fans are keeping it fresh – there have been several formats of protests this season.

There were organised demonstrations before the 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace on 20 September. That was Potter’s final game.

On 20 October thousands of fans stayed away for the 2-0 defeat by Brentford, in Nuno’s first match in charge.

And on 3 November, last weekend, fans staged a sit-in protest.

This time it was a funeral march through Stratford, ending at the stadium.

Organisers were expecting up to 8,000 fans to join the protests, with West Ham claiming the attendance was between 2,000 to 3,000.

Organisers Hammers United said: “Massive thank you to all of those supporters, young and old who took part in the protest march, an overwhelming success.

“Thousands of you came out and you were clearly heard! COME ON YOU IRONS!”